Social Communication About Unpalatable Foods in Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus )

Many monkeys show social facilitation in sampling novel, palatable foods but not in avoiding unpalatable foods. Cotton-top tamarins ( Saguinus oedipus ) socially learned to avoid a preferred food when it was made unpalatable but showed no aversion toward a food not made unpalatable. Only 33% sampled...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative psychology (1983) 2003-06, Vol.117 (2), p.142-148
Main Authors: Snowdon, Charles T, Boe, Carla Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal
Animal behavior
Animal Communication
Animals
Cues
Discrimination Learning
Female
Food
Food Intake
Gestures
Male
Monkeys
Monkeys & apes
Saguinus - psychology
Social Behavior
Social Communication
Social Facilitation
Taste Perception
Vocalization, Animal
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Summary:Many monkeys show social facilitation in sampling novel, palatable foods but not in avoiding unpalatable foods. Cotton-top tamarins ( Saguinus oedipus ) socially learned to avoid a preferred food when it was made unpalatable but showed no aversion toward a food not made unpalatable. Only 33% sampled unpalatable tuna, and few sampled it again. In 3 of 8 groups, the socially induced aversion was long lasting, at least 15 weeks after food was made palatable again. Potential cues include facial reactions of disgust, alarm-call vocalizations, and reduction in food-associated calls. Behavioral coordination in cooperative infant care, communication about food, and well-established social relationships may explain social avoidance of unpalatable foods in tamarins and the absence of social avoidance in less cooperative species.
ISSN:0735-7036
1939-2087
DOI:10.1037/0735-7036.117.2.142